Sticking With It

The Blue Jackets held an optional skate today in Bell Centre, where on Thursday they'll play the Montreal Canadiens. The plan, according to coach Todd Richards, is simply to stick with the plan.

"I like the way we played on Tuesday," Richards said. "So, unless something changes between now and then, I'll probably go back to the same lineup.

"We created chances. We played smart hockey. We've done that for two games now (vs. Boston on Saturday and Detroit on Tuesday) and we haven't been rewarded. We need to get rewarded for it."

The Blue Jackets have scored seven even-strength goals in five games, but four of those came on the road against a woeful Buffalo club. The Jackets haven't scored a 5-on-5 goal in more than seven periods.

Rule of thumb for hockey players: they get frustrated when they don't finish chances; they get worried when they aren't creating any.

"We're getting a lot of chances," right wing Cam Atkinson said after Tuesday's loss in Detroit. "Whether it's bearing down on our chances or getting a lucky bounce or a break, we have to find a way to turn more of those chances into goals."

Here's what the lines looked like on Tuesday:

F1: Atkinson - Dubinsky - Gaborik

F2: Comeau - Johansen - Umberger

F3: Jenner - Anisimov - Letestu

F4: Craig - MacKenzie - Boll

Left wing Nick Foligno remains away from the club and will almost certainly miss Thursday's game.

Side dishes:

-- D David Savard, who grew up 40 minutes from Montreal, will have a large throng of family and friends in Bell Centre on Thursday. But, this being Montreal, "they'd be at the game anyway," he said. "Everybody has tickets already." Savard has been one of the bright spots early this season, according to Richards. More on that in Thursday's editions of The Dispatch.

-- Richards said the plan is for G Curtis McElhinney to make his first start with the Blue Jackets at some point during this weekend's back-to-back. The Jackets play Saturday in Washington, then host Vancouver on Sunday. Typically, you'd play your No. 1 against a division foe. But the Blue Jackets haven't won a home game yet, so this is not an easy diliemma. What would you do?

-- If the same lineup is used, D Dalton Prout will be a healthy scratch for a second straight game.

-- Montreal will likely be without LW Max Pacioretty after an awkward fall on Tuesday in Winnipeg.

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